The present invention relates to a device for controlling internal combustion engines of motor vehicles, which is provided with a sensor system having a sensor rotating with the shaft of the internal combustion engine.
In controlling devices of the foregoing type, particularly for controlling ignition process, fuel injection process or the like, a sensor system for scanning an angular position of the shaft of the internal combustion engine, particularly crankshaft or cam shaft of the motor, is utilized. Such systems are formed, for example as segment systems in which sensor disks rotate together with the shaft of the motor; these discs are provided on the periphery thereof with segments the number of which is proportional to the number of cylinders of the engine, that are elongated marked regions. When the angular position of the crankshaft is scanned the number of segments corresponds to the half number of the cylinders. If the angular position of the cam shaft of the engine is scanned the number of segments is the same as the number of the cylinders in the engine because the crankshaft rotates with a double speed of the cam shaft. Thereby each segment corresponds to one cylinder in case of scanning the positition of the cam shaft and two cylinders in case of scanning the crankshaft position, and each ignition or fuel injection process is controlled with respective segments depending on running of the motor. In the stationary signal receiving element, the front flank of the segment is detected, and by a suitable time control via total segment lengths, the control steps for the internal combustion engine are released. Segment-type systems with the same number of segments have, however the disadvantage which resides in that no arrangement sufficient for a distributor-free or two-circuit-(for example, eight cylinder-engine) high voltage distribution is possible. If one of the segments has a marking possibility a proper sensor is necessary depending on the number of cylinders in the engine. In addition, these sensor disks deviate from each other depending on the type of the vehicle Therefore a great amount of different sensor disks is necessary, the manufacture and the supporting of which are complicated.